Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and YouTube over the measures he took to restrict the use of those sites.
President Donald Trump ended his lawsuit against Twitter on January 6, 2021 over the platform’s decision to ban him following a violation of the U.S. Capitol.
Trump’s lawsuit focused on freedom of speech violations. Private companies usually don’t have a legal obligation to respect free voice, but the lawsuit essentially functions as agents of Congressional Democrats whom Twitter and other platforms wanted him to drain. He claimed he was doing it.
The lawsuit was originally filed in Florida, but was later moved to federal court in California at the request of the company. In May 2022, a San Francisco judge dismissed the lawsuit against Twitter and its former CEO Jack Dorsey, determining that he was not acting as a government agent when Twitter stopped Trump. Trump appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit.
All three platforms eventually dropped a ban. A few days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential race candidacy, Musk, a self-descriptive free speech absolutist in November 2022, recovered in November 2022.
Twitter lawyers have argued that Trump’s case has been silent since his account was restored under Musk’s revised content moderation policy. However, the incident lasted long as at least two pro-Trump advocates who took part in the lawsuit had not restored their accounts.
Since winning reelection, Trump has secured a positive settlement with tech and media companies that accused him of slandering or abusing him.